Restaurant Review: Capt. Jack's Family Buffet in Panama City Beach, Florida - All You Can Eat Seafood Buffet

On a recent vacation to Panama City Beach, we decided to go out to dinner for a seafood buffet. To our surprise, there aren't many buffets to choose from in Panama City. We decided upon Capt. Jack's Family Buffet.

Capt. Jack's claims to be the newest and best buffet in Panama City. It is owned by a local restaurateur, Jack Bishop. They claim to have the number one crab legs, which are included with every dinner buffet.

On our visit, the restaurant was busy; it was spring break. We were seated very close to the buffet. The buffet was small in my opinion and yes; everyone was there for crab legs. We partook of the crab legs and after trying them; we thought we could get better in our landlocked home of Indiana at any given Asian buffet. Most of the other seafood offerings were fried. The salad buffet was a minimal offering of typical salad items. The dessert offerings were token at best and very small portions. Nothing seemed outstanding in my opinion. After one trip through the buffet, I couldn't think of anything that stood out enough to want to go back and try it again.

Capt. Jack's offers three different buffets; breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dinner Buffet is served from 3:30 till closing and adults eat for 23.95 while children under age three eat free. Lunch is served from 11 to 2pm and adults eat for 9.95 while children under three eat free. Breakfast is available from 8 to 10:30 and costs 8.95 for adults and again, children under three eat free.

Capt. Jack's claims to be the best seafood dinner buffet on the beach and that may be since there are so few buffet offerings in the area. We will definitely return to Panama City Beach but we will not be patronizing Capt. Jack's again. In our opinion, it was expensive for the seafood being offered which was sub par in quality. While quantity is an option, there wasn't enough good tasting food for us to partake in any real quantity of food.

This reviewer's opinion is only being given for the dinner seafood buffet. While the other buffets might be worth a try, it is my opinion if the food is similar to the dinner offerings minus the crab legs, a repeat visit isn't worth the time or money. Should you want to give the buffet a try yourself, they are located at 8208 Thomas Dr., Panama City Beach, Florida and can be reached by phone at: (850) 236-8555.